Studies of the antibody-dependent killing of schistosomula of Schistosoma mansoni employing haptenic target antigens. Analysis of mechanisms responsible for the rejection of parasites in vivo

Abstract

SUMMARYSchistosomula, surface labelled with trinitrophenyl (TNP) target antigens were tested for their susceptibility to killing by humoral- or cell-mediated anti-TNP effector mechanisms in vivo. It was found that mice passively immunized with anti-TNP serum effectively rejected an intravenous (i.v.) challenge infection with TNP-labelled schistosomula. In contrast, mice which demonstrated a strong TNP-specific, delayed hypersensitivity response to the haptenated larvae as evidenced by ear swelling, were unable to eliminate the same challenge infection. Significant passive immunization against TNP-labelled schistosomula was shown to require microlitre quantities of anti-TNP serum and could be conferred with an IgG fraction purified from the serum. The role of cells in the antibody-dependent rejection of TNP-labelled schistosomula was investigated using histopathological methods. In passively immunized mice, haptenated larvae elicited neutrophil-enriched focal reactions in the lungs and showed evidence of degeneration as early as 2 h after injection. These cellular reactions were not observed in recipients which had received prior whole-body irradiation. Nevertheless, by 24 h TNP-labelled larvae were found to have been killed in the lungs of the irradiated mice despite the absence of significant cellular attack. The above observations suggest that the antibody-dependent destruction of haptenated schistosomula results from two overlapping responses, an early response mediated by radio-sensitive cells and a second, radio-resistant response manifesting its effects at later time points. Since mice genetically deficient in the fifth component of complement fail to develop the later response, it probably reflects the effect of the lytic pathway of complement on the parasite.